As a rule, discharge vessels of discharge lamps are fitted with exhaust tubes or other connections, via which discharge vessels can be evacuated and filled with the gas filling. These connections are generally sealed by fusing, whereupon projecting parts can be broken off or cut off.
The invention is directed in particular to discharge lamps designed for dielectrically impeded discharges, and chiefly, in this case, to so called flat radiators. In flat radiators, the discharge vessel is designed to be flat and of relatively large size by comparison with the thickness and has two substantially plane-parallel plates. The plates need not, of course, be flat in the strict sense of the word, but can also be structured. Flat radiators are of interest, particularly for the back lighting of displays and monitors.
Also known in this technical field are methods of production in which the discharge vessel is evacuated and filled in a so-called vacuum furnace. The vacuum furnace is in this case a chamber which can be evacuated and heated. As in the case of conventional exhaust tube solutions as well, the exhaustion removes undesired gases and adsorbates, in order to keep the gas filling of the finished discharge lamp as pure as possible.
Exhaust tube solutions and comparable procedures are associated with restrictions on the discharge vessel geometry. Methods in the vacuum furnace are cost-intensive owing to the technical outlay for the vacuum furnace, and otherwise comparatively time consuming.